Saved by Grace through Faith

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

Those two verses are phenomenal. They provide the clearest and sharpest difference between Christianity and every other religion on the planet. All other religions are works-based; Christianity alone is "not as a result of works." Every other religion must earn heaven; Christianity is the only one that gets salvation as "the gift of God." Christianity alone offers salvation by grace through faith.

Have you ever taken the time to notice the prepositions in that phrase? They're important. The phrase has three pieces: 1) saved, 2) grace, and 3) faith. What is their relationship? How do we get that first piece -- "saved"? Follow the prepositional logic.

Paul says we are saved "by grace." Paul does not say we are saved "by faith". We often do, but he doesn't say that here. He says we are saved by grace. So what does he say about faith? He says we are saved "through faith." No, that's not even accurate. He says we are saved by grace that comes through faith. So what's my point?'

Let's try a few human illustrations. Consider the importance of water to human life. We live on water. We cannot survive without water. We can live longer without food than we can live without water. We need it. So, there is a reservoir near me with life-giving water, but, you know what? I don't drink at that reservoir. The water comes to my house. It comes through a canal to a water purification plant and then through pipes to my house. In other words, I live by life-giving water which comes to me through pipes. I do not live on pipes; I live on water. Or consider food. There is the hand that feeds, and there is the food that the hand feeds. Do you live on the hand, or do you live on the food? You live on the food which comes through the hand that feeds.

What we have here is a salvation system. Faith does not save. Grace saves. It is all of grace. Going back to those illustrations, faith without grace doesn't provide salvation any more than those pipes without water or a hand without food sustain life. Grace -- God free, unmerited favor -- alone saves. Faith is necessary, however. It is the conduit, the connection, the link to that grace. Like that reservoir near me, God could have vast reserves of grace available, but it is faith that provides the pathway, the access, the spigot, so to speak.

Now, since the two are irreducibly connected, it's easy to see how "saved by grace" and "saved by faith" have become irreducibly connected. You don't get grace without faith and faith does you no good without God's grace. It is true, then, in a general sense that we are saved by faith; since both are required, it can be thought of as both being that which produces salvation. So don't hurt yourself too much over this. Just keep in mind that your salvation is a gift. It is a gift predicated on the grace of God ... which is a gift. That grace comes via the conduit of faith -- your faith -- which is a gift (Eph 2:8; John 6:65; Rom 12:3; Phil 1:29). You exercise it, providing the pathway for God's grace, resulting in salvation. And do you want to know why?

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Eph 2:10)

So ... works are not out of the picture, eh?

What did Simon Believe?

In Acts 8 we are introduced to a character named Simon. He is a magician (however that is meant) (Acts 8:9). Up until Philip arrived preaching the gospel, Simon was regarded as "the Great Power of God" (Acts 8:10), but when Philip showed up it says, "Even Simon himself believed" and was baptized (Acts 8:13). Well, now, this is good stuff. An evil "magician" repents and comes to Christ, baptism and all. So it's a bit strange how the story plays out.

Some time later Peter and John arrived and started praying over new converts. They laid hands on them and they received the Spirit (Acts 8:14-17). Simon thought this was great! He offered the Apostles money: "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:18-19) Peter's response was amazing.

"May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity." (Act 8:20-23)

Hey, Pete, back off, man! Haven't you heard? "Once saved, always saved!" Well, of course he was aware of the eternal security of the believer, so what was going on here? It says Simon believed. It also says that he was "in the bondage of iniquity." How do we put these two together?

The Greek doesn't give us any help. The text says Simon πιστεύω -- pisteuō -- the same basic word found in Ephesians 2:8-9. "For by grace you have been saved through faith." So that's not helping. So what else does the text tell us?

We know he believed the "signs and great miracles" (Acts 8:13). Clearly Simon the "magician" had met his better. His were tricks; these were real miracles. We know that he heard about "the kingdom of God" and "the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 8:12), so that's likely something he "believed". So what are we missing? Isn't that "saving faith"? Given Peter's response -- "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God." -- we would have to assume that it wasn't. So what went wrong? Where was the disconnect?

This isn't the first time believers didn't believe. In the 6th chapter of John we encounter disciples who didn't believe. Jesus had said that to have eternal life you had to eat His flesh (John 6:53-58). Some of His own were not impressed. And Jesus, knowing who did not believe (John 6:64), said, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." (John 6:65)

So there is something else beyond "believe", apparently. What is that? I think we can see it in Simon quite clearly. To "believe" requires, first, to know something. You can't believe what you don't know. On the other hand, knowing something doesn't mean you agree. I know what a unicorn is, but I don't believe in them. So there is that second component -- belief. Mental acquiescence. "I agree." That's about as far as Simon got. It qualified him to be a demon (James 2:19). There is one more component; that is what I will refer to as "trust". It is placing your confidence in Christ. It produces change. Belief without resulting change is dead faith (James 2:17, 26), and Simon demonstrated dead faith. He figured Christ wasn't entirely sufficient and he could buy what he needed. He believed, but only as far as mental agreement. His confidence was elsewhere.

We all face this question. What do you believe? Do you simply know about Christ? That isn't "believe". Do you agree that Christ is who He says He is? That's "believe", but it's not saving faith. There must be one more component; trust ... a reliance on Christ that produces a changed life. Without it, all you have is dead faith, as demonstrated by Simon the magician. If that's you, that's not where you need to be. "Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you."